Home Staging and Marketing come out of the same budget. Home sellers do not give marketing a second thought when they decide to sell their house unless it is an fsbo. A home seller's perception of marketing is the agent's job because that is what they do! "Why should we pay for that?"

It is no wonder they are astounded when their agent tells them they need to get their own home MARKET READY! "What? That is not our responsibility, it is yours!"

Home sellers expect to have to do some things like clear off the refrigerator, make their beds every morning, keep the dishes up and mow the lawn.

Now they are told they need to do what?

• "Stage our house?
  
• "What the heck is that?"
• "We don't have the money for that!"
• "How much is that going to cost us?"
• "Why should we pay for that?"
• "Bob and Mary sold their house last year and they didn't have to do that!"
• "What is wrong with our house?"
• "We have been living here for years and it is just fine!"
• "If we have to do extra stuff like home staging, then you should pay for it!"
  

These are reasonable and natural responses. So let's see how we can handle these objections...

If you are a real estate agent and you have just sat through a meeting where a Home Stager was the guest speaker and he or she has convinced you that home staging is necessary in today's market for many reasons, and you are sold on the idea. So now you take on a new listing and you hit a road block as defined by the bulleted comments. What can you do? What are you going to say?

Overcoming the objections:

• A new industry has emerged in residential real estate called Home Staging or Point of Sale Merchandising because the value needs to equal or exceed expectations for today's buyers. Buyers need to see what they are getting, and you, the seller, are competing with new construction model homes at similar price points
• Trained professionals know what buyers are looking for and will show you what you need to do to optimize your home to compete in your neighborhood and sell.
  
• Home Stager's are very much like set designers or window dressers and know what lifestyle buyer's are looking for in your area.
• A house that is not staged in today's market will be left up to luck no matter how great your Realtor is, and you may not get your house sold at all. The market has changed that dramatically.
• You can do the work yourselves or Home Stager's will do it for you but it must be done
  
• Home Stager's have made it easy for you. You can pay for a consultation with a credit card. (If your local stager does not offer financing, ask them to add Paypal or some other type of shopping cart on their web site for your customers)  The will come into your home and show you exactly what needs to be done to get your home resale ready and competitive. They will leave you with a detailed to-do list.
• If upgrades are needed such as appliances, flooring, painting, landscaping and you don't want to do it yourself, then you can get that financed and added to escrow which will be paid at closing. It is proven that upgrades in the kitchen's, bath's, flooring, and paint, get the best returns and add value to the sell of your home.
  
• I strongly recommend that all the work needs to be completed before the open house. The open house and the first two weeks are critical and increase the chance of a successful sale!
• Let's give our STAGER a call right now and see when he/she can meet with us.